By Vivienne Russell | 14 December 2012
Outgoing chief fire officer Sir Ken Knight is to lead an efficiency review of England’s fire and rescue service in order to identify savings and improvements.
The review will take in the views of local authorities, fire officers, trade unions and other emergency services and will consider the scope for greater use of shared services, flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, new technology and more preventative approaches to fire safety. It will begin in the new year and is expected to conclude by next spring.Fire and rescue authorities’ spending power has been relatively well protected, the Department for Communities and Local Government said. Spending power was cut by 2.2% in 2011/12 and 0.5% in the current year. But announcing the review today, fire minister Brandon Lewis said all parts of the public sector had to play their part.
‘We all recognise our firefighters perform an incredibly important public service. That is why spending for fire and rescue authorities, like other blue light services, has been protected. But we cannot escape the reality that every bit of the public sector has to help reduce the deficit we inherited,’ he said.
Lewis added that the review would leave ‘no stone unturned’ in the quest to develop the most efficient and effective frontline fire service there can be.
Knight said that many fire authorities had already made ‘great strides’ towards becoming more efficient, but there was more that could be done.
‘This review is a real opportunity to get to grips with what is happening on the ground, to highlight best practice and make sure that every option for efficient working is being explored,’ he said.
Knight has been the chief fire and rescue adviser for England since October 2007. He will step down from the post at the end of the year.
